Functional morphology and neural control of neck muscles in mammals

SYNOPSIS. Although the data described in this paper are from a traditional experimental animal, the cat, the problem addressed is applicable to many forms of motor control in a broad range of species. In general, we are trying to understand how the musculo-skeletal structure of a body component imposes constraints on how that component is controlled by the central nervous system. Our approach to this problem has been to develop a theoretical model of sensory-motor integration in complex systems where movement is produced by a large number of muscles and then to test whether that model can predict the patterns of neck muscle activity that underlie head movements. The resulting theoretical interpretation of physiological data sheds light on the organization of head movement control in the cat and also reveals a number of fundamental principles that must be considered in trying to characterize and understand any sensory-motor system.